The bigger they are

Friedrich Trump, the presidential grandfather, emigrated from Germany and became a US citizen.  He became wealthy from the restaurants and bordellos he operated in Alaska, among other places.  There was talk that the family name was originally Drumpf but that has not been substantiated.  Trump's mother was born in Scotland, so any Russian connection is strictly financial and not hereditary.

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Maybe that's just what Russians do, maybe it's part of their national character.

Mr. Beagles is on to something.  Russian music and literature both seem to have a spirit of melancholy tinged with romantic yearnings, but I'm not familiar enough with either to be sure.  Maybe I got it from the movies, with sad, vodka soaked Russians bemoaning the fate of their beloved Motherland.

While Europe was entering the Age of Enlightenment Russia was a very backwards country.  Then Peter the Great came to power and, because of his exposure to the modern ways of Europe, brought Russia, kicking and screaming, into the modern era.  Those old Cossacks weren't happy to be forcefully made to shave off their beards.  Russian history is deep and dark, and memories are long.

Maintaining civil order in such a huge country probably requires a very heavy hand.  It worked for Stalin and it seems to be working for Putin.  I don't know how many ethnic groups make up modern day Russia but I do recall the term White Russian from the pre-Revolution days.  And then there was Khrushchev, who was considered a rustic peasant and not worthy of leadership, according to the ruling party elite.  Now there is a different, moneyed, elite commonly called oligarchs.  I think those are the guys that the Trump folks are trying to be pals with.  They sure buy a lot of Trump property and, apparently, invest a lot of their hard won (stolen?) money with the Trump organization.  Or so I've read.  I still think that any alleged collusion with the Russians is strictly about money and desperate attempts by the Trump Organization to prop up a shaky financial empire.  Why else the refusal to disclose those tax returns?

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With the media focus on all the Russian shenanigans we don't hear much about Snowden, Assange, WikiLeaks, or the NSA prying into our private lives anymore.  That stuff is still going on.  Data is still being gathered and analyzed, if not by the government then it's by private businesses which will be happy to sell it to the feds or law enforcement.  Privacy?  Ha!  Nobody is stealing it because we've already given it away, except for the select few old farts who still use cash.